Optimal fasting approach for health benefits, but not weight loss

(Please upvote if you find it interesting, this is am important question for me)

Thank you for sharing
it! Is there any scientific evidence to support the answer to this question?

What of the following
types of fasting should one do if he or she is not interested in weight loss
(but rather muscle gain), but is very interested in all other health benefits
fasting might provide and specifically in the benefit below (related to glomerulosclerosis)
as this one can be life-saving(!)?

1. Intermittent fasting
daily

1.1 No food food for 16
hours a day

1.2 No protein and no
carbs for 16 hours a day, but some fat for breakfast

2. Alternate day fasting

2.1 No calories on a
given day - one day a week

2.2 No calories on a
given day - two days a week

2.3 No calories on a
given day - every other day --- this seems to be the method of the discussed
rat study (below)

1. About the reasons why it might not be generally necessary to cut 100% of calories instead of 50% (but it's in general, not relating to this specific study I am referring to, and it's focused on weight loss)

Do your research on the guy. He misrepresents science in a way that promotes his marketing business. Then hides behind non-profits to skirt repeated warnings from the FDA. There are a lot of dangerous stuff on that site that can seriously harm you. Even more dangerous is the stuff he removes from teh site.

I follow Mercola quite a bit, his plan is quite similar to what i am into. How come he freaks you out? How is his stuff dangerous? The 14 hour fasting window seems not too bad. Mercola mentioned it should be at least 16 hour. But then again, you don't agree with him, though would love to know why.

I've tried lots of different ways of IF, most of what you have listed above, at the moment i've settled on one meal per day, it's usually with a starter and maybe one snack during the day if i feel hunger. I don't necessarily think this is the best way of doing it, i even have my doubts, but i simply don't enjoy eating during the day and really enjoy a big meal at the end of the day.

If you don't want to lose weight then intermittent fasting a few times per week is probably the best way to maintain what muscle you already have and get some benefits of fasting, but but what if losing a significant portion of that muscle and rebuilding it would build a better body? I find the longer i fast (i've only gone upto 5 days) the easier it is to gain lean mass when i resume eating, not sure how far i can take that! I haven't figured it out but i'm certain there is a way of fasting, exercising, and eating that can build strong muscle pretty reliably just by reading your own body, which a prolonged fast can provide some clarity on, but perhaps we could also measure biomarkers to know the optimal times to self-eat and eat non-self :)

To me true fasting is intermittent, not a daily routine, historically it would've been due to unsuccessful hunting, or intentionally for healing or spiritual reasons. The latter two would've mostly been intermittent bouts of not eating anything for prolonged periods beyond a few meals, but all of them intermittent. If you do it routinely then it's not really intermittent as we adapt to consistent routine. Intermittent means 'irregular, not continuous or steady'. Doing a 18/6 or 20/4 you still get some of the benefits, i do it myself, i'm practically doing 22/2! Still, in my experience the real benefits of fasting come when you are pushing your limits beyond a few meals.

There's many good articles on fasting yet nowhere near enough research, there was a study that showed that hunger pangs during fasting are associated with neurogenesis and i think at least a couple showing that fasting stimulates neurogenesis. I can testify that when i push through each slight feeling of hunger or energy dip and go deeper into a fast, i feel sharper & sharper, and intuitively feel it benefiting my entire being, whatever that consists of.

My favourite stuff to read on fasting is by Herbet M Shelton as he supervised so many fasts himself.

An advice on Intermittent fasting, it shouldn't be done daily. It should only be done a couple of times a week otherwise the body starts adjusting to it thus you won't be able to reap its benefits anymore.